Best way to fight an insurance company

[AE86]

Cliche,
Every insurance company gets audited by the state insurance commissioner, and if they get too many complaints they can lose there license. My buddy is an insurance agent and he loath's the state commissioners office, they can be a real pain. Just mention to your insurance adjuster that you are in the process of filing a grievance with state commissioners office, and that may encourage the adjuster to hear you out. As mentioned before have your documentation and research (ads, appraiser, receipts for items purchased for car, ect...) of your cars value. I had to do this for my AE86, and it was a pain, but I eventually got my cars true value. Stay patient, professional and organized and you may get something closer to your cars value. If all else fails, you may ACTUALLY have to go through the insurance commissioner. Here's the link for Oregon's insurance division, goodluck.

[///schwartzman]

^ I disagree, having been through these situations and selling both homes and cars, valuation is based on a few factors... Market value of the asset "whole" being the basis. Secondly, upgrades definitely change value... When you go to a dealer to buy a car and ask for stereo upgrade or premium rims there are surcharges. Buying a house, granite counters, hardwood floors or a pool add value and you're going to pay for it... Upgrades are considered "value added," less depreciation of course but in a loss it has to factored in to the value to be made "whole," every bit helps though.

[leothedrummer]

^ I disagree, having been through these situations and selling both homes and cars, valuation is based on a few factors... Market value of the asset "whole" being the basis. Secondly, upgrades definitely change value... When you go to a dealer to buy a car and ask for stereo upgrade or premium rims there are surcharges. Buying a house, granite counters, hardwood floors or a pool add value and you're going to pay for it... Upgrades are considered "value added," less depreciation of course but in a loss it has to factored in to the value to be made "whole," every bit helps though.

So the key thing then is to make sure your insurance company will recognize and acknowledge the modifications you have done to your car and then adjust the value accordingly. Were all these modifications listed on the policy before the accident happened?

[Cliche Guevara]

^ I disagree, having been through these situations and selling both homes and cars, valuation is based on a few factors... Market value of the asset "whole" being the basis. Secondly, upgrades definitely change value... When you go to a dealer to buy a car and ask for stereo upgrade or premium rims there are surcharges. Buying a house, granite counters, hardwood floors or a pool add value and you're going to pay for it... Upgrades are considered "value added," less depreciation of course but in a loss it has to factored in to the value to be made "whole," every bit helps though.

This. I was told specifically by my adjuster that I can get up to $1,000 added to the value of the car from stereo upgrades and wheels/tires alone. As far as rebuilding the engine, obviously it won't up the value by the price of the rebuild, but they did tell me specifically that that sort of work can increase the value if I have it documented.

[nebulous123]

^ I disagree, having been through these situations and selling both homes and cars, valuation is based on a few factors... Market value of the asset "whole" being the basis. Secondly, upgrades definitely change value... When you go to a dealer to buy a car and ask for stereo upgrade or premium rims there are surcharges. Buying a house, granite counters, hardwood floors or a pool add value and you're going to pay for it... Upgrades are considered "value added," less depreciation of course but in a loss it has to factored in to the value to be made "whole," every bit helps though.

Sure it might add value to the whole. But you aren't going to get back what you put in. like i said, $1k car with $3k rims isn't automatically a $4k car. Same with home upgrades, but even that might not equal out to added value. Mods / upgrades are all based on taste. Mods done one way may actually be worth less to one person over another.

I guess what I am trying to say is, when insurance companies are evaluating a car, there is a check box when it comes to wheels. Premium wheels being an option which adds value to the car. all wheels get lumped into that category, even HRE and BBS. Its a premium wheel on the car as a whole. maybe if you had a receipt for how much they originally costed you would have some leverage on the price.

good discussion here, hope OP makes out with a better deal. if car was in the condition it looks to be in before the crash I could see it selling for a higher price than evaluated at....on a BMW forum.

[nebulous123]

This. I was told specifically by my adjuster that I can get up to $1,000 added to the value of the car from stereo upgrades and wheels/tires alone. As far as rebuilding the engine, obviously it won't up the value by the price of the rebuild, but they did tell me specifically that that sort of work can increase the value if I have it documented.

Sure there is an UP TO amount for upgrades, but not top dollar. If you look at it from the other side, without you telling them the mods on the car and getting some sort of agreement on the value before hand, they are charging you insurance based on a car valued at $2,400. If they are insuring all the upgrades as well, they must know about it before and you will be charged accordingly. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

SPP (Scheduled Personal Property) is a rider in a homeowners policy for people to add rings, jewelry, etc that is valued higher than the max in the policy, which is usually $1,500 for all jewels no matter how much or how many. And you need some serious documentation to prove its value and have it added to the policy. And guess what...your insurance rate goes up.

Its like borrowing a camera from your friend with the explicit "you break it you buy it" setup, except he says based on the current selling price its $300 before you walk out the door. While you have it, you break it to pieces and come back to find out that its actually a $500 camera because of this upgraded flash and better lens and SD card.

[lylefk]

Slightly OT, but are you planning on buying it back? Can get some cash back parting it.

[Cliche Guevara]

Slightly OT, but are you planning on buying it back? Can get some cash back parting it.

Oh yeah, so far seven different E30s (including two M3s) are gonna get parts off it, and the sport seats, plastic bumpers, and LSD still aren't taken. All that without even posting a for sale thread :p

[Cliche Guevara]

Just heard from insurance, the updated value on my car is $6,300! Needless to say, I'm pretty damn happy with that result. Here's my next issue, the damage was estimated to be around $4,900 so, based on that initial estimate, it's no longer a total loss. I have a pretty strong feeling that the actual repair cost will be significantly higher than that, partly because it was the field adjuster that assessed the damage, not a body shop, and because there's just a fuckton of damage. So it's looking like I have a little while longer before I know the fate of my car.

edit: They're gonna send out someone else in the next day or two to take another look at the car and reassess the damage.

[jeffw]

DIBS ON YOUR ELLIPSOIDS!!! seriously I am coming into your work to have chat with ya.

[Cliche Guevara]

DIBS ON YOUR ELLIPSOIDS!!! seriously I am coming into your work to have chat with ya.

Ha, Ellipsoides are already spoken for, they're going on my friend's M3. Best day to catch me at work is Saturday.

[jeffw]

your friend has a m3? in town? I haven't seen an m3 around here

[jeffnhiscars]

If you get it professionally repaired then they will revise their payout when they find hidden damage. At that point I do not think they will all of a sudden say its now a total loss but if you already know a body shop you will work with, have that conversation with them and about your insurance co generally.

However, if you decide to settle for cash, then it is what it is and the surprises are on your account.

Appraisals def help but unless you have a declared value policy (which is typically a collector policy with its own restrictions) you are still going to be facing the "market value" challenge in the event of a total loss. Homework counts.

[Cliche Guevara]

your friend has a m3? in town? I haven't seen an m3 around here

It's garaged most of the time. Elipsoids are going on one M3 and the euro grills and my super sticky tires are going on another :).

If you get it professionally repaired then they will revise their payout when they find hidden damage. At that point I do not think they will all of a sudden say its now a total loss but if you already know a body shop you will work with, have that conversation with them and about your insurance co generally.

However, if you decide to settle for cash, then it is what it is and the surprises are on your account.

The reassessed damage estimate came out to at least $7,500. Apparently the first guy half assed it and stopped marking things once he figured it was totalled. The first estimate didn't even make not of the damage to the roof and the A-pillar. Everything is all done with the insurance company and my check is in the mail.

Appraisals def help but unless you have a declared value policy (which is typically a collector policy with its own restrictions) you are still going to be facing the "market value" challenge in the event of a total loss. Homework counts.

I'll definitely be getting my next car appraised. I'm gonna talk to my insurance agent about it to make sure I do it in a way that they approve of so that we'll have a set value we can agree on. It should be fairly straight forward, my agent has always been insanely helpful.